The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-06-22
zEKE,s EXCITING BEAR HUNT.
a Man, Big Grizzly and Rattle
snake at the Bottom of a Prospect
From the Mem York SIN.

From the New York sun.
CALIENTE, CAL, June 10.-~One-eyed
Zeke, who hunts for living around Owen
Lake and along Owen river over in Inyo,
came In yesterday to be doctored for a
sprained ankle. Spraining that ankle saved
his life on this last trip. Zeke has scheme
OF his own for killing grizzlies that is very
eftectlye If man has nerve enough to work
1t and his gun doesn't miss fire. He carries
a heavy double barrelled shotgun and a A.
callbre revolver, but never Tugs rife even
when he goes after bears. When he sights
a grizzly he pops at him with the revolver
and gets him mad, standing in the open
where the bear can see him, and shooting
often enough to dspel any possible doubts
IN the bears noodle about the annoyance.
A grizzly will go his own way usually if
not lnterfered with, but if insulted with
pistol shots he is pretty certain to make a
disturbance of the peace. The exasperated
bear snaps viciously at the place where the
pistol ball strikes him, concludes that Zeke
is responsible for the trouble and goes for
him. Zeke waits calmly with a double
load OF heavy shot in each barrel and the
hammers at full cock. Caleb comes right
up to him, and when almost within hugging
distance, rises on his hind legs to throw
himself upon Zeke. Then Zeke turns loose
both barrels at the bears chest, and blows a
hole as big as two fists nearly through him.
The heavy charge at such close range
smashes the grizzly's interior works in a
deplorablemanner, and he dies right away.
1t is far more effective than an express rifle
bullet But it requires nerve to face big,
ugly bear and reserve fire until he is within
half dozen feet of the gun.
Zeke met a bear in the mountains near
Owen Lake and played his customary game,
but not with complete success. BY some ex-
traordiuary bad luck, both cartridges in his
gun had defective primers, and when he
pulled the triggers he was very much
panied and disappointed by the absence of
the usual loud report. 1t was a critical
moment for Zeke. 1t took him the thou
sandth part of a second to grasp the situa-
ton and spring desperately to the right.
Another small fraction of second was con-
srlmed in his unexpected descent to the bot
tom OF an old prospect hole that was over
grown with brush and escaped his notice
| Probably that is the only prospect hole in
that part of the Sierra Nevada, and it must
have been dug by some half-cracked forty
miner like Marshall, who prospected all the
way from Yuma to the Columbia. Zeke
vows it was dug by Providence.
| The sudden and unaccountable disappear
ance of the man with the gun surprised the
bear, and he had thrown himself forward
and plunged into the chapparal several
yards before he began to catch on to the fact
that Zeke was not before him. AS soon as
Zeke struck bottom, he looked up to see if
the bear was coming down too, and then he
removed the bad cartridges and quickly in
serted two more in his gun. He knew the
bear would smell him out very soon.
In half minute Caleb's wicked snout ap-
peared at the top of the hole. Itdisappeared,
and was at 0npa ren1aand bU the haaT,ic hind
legs. Caleb was coming down stern fore
most after the noxious person who had fired
bullets at him. AS the bear scrambled
down Zeke aimed just under his shoulder
and sent two handfuls of buckshot careering
through his vitals in diagonal line. The
wound was almost instantly fatal, and the
bear came down in a heap at the bottom OF
the hole, which was about ten or twelve feet
| deep.
The excitement being over, Zeke realized
that he had been injured in the fall, and
that standing up was painful. He sat down
on the bear to rest and reflect, and to induce
reflection he took out his pipe and lighted
it. The flare of the match lighted up the
prospect hole, and Zeke was interested or
seeing q good sized rattlesnalze lying dead
under his feet, its head crushed by his boot
heel. He had landed on the snake when he
fell into the hole, and the slipping of his foot
had sprained his ankle.
Zeke had hard time climbing out of the
prospect hole and getting back to camp, but
he got there, and sent some men up to hoist
the bear to the surface. The grizzly S weight
was estimated to be 900 pounds.
Zeke says he doesn't care about the sprain
because if his foot had not landed just in
that spot he would have had more company
than he would have cared to entertain at
the bottom of a prospect hole.